The scythe has been used in Britain for more than 2000 years, in the mid 20th century it was replaced by mowers and strimmers. Now, in the 21st century we are rediscovering the benefits of a quieter, environmentally friendly, less temperamental method where you smell cut grass rather than fumes.

Austrian scythes are modern, precision, versatile implements with a long history, they are lighter than traditional English scythes, easy to use and to sharpen.

Scythes have a great variety of uses in town and country, gardens, grass verges, allotments, churchyards and nature reserves even lawn mowing. Most of the time they are used to cut grass but they can also be used on rough pasture, nettles, bracken, scrub and heathland.

SWEAT is the brainchild of Clive Leeke in collaboration with the North Wessex AONB to promote the use of Austrian Scythes as an alternative to mowers and strimmers particularly on sites managed by volunteers.